


Little Touches

by monophobian



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drabble Sequence, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, KakaSaku Week
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-04-08 06:14:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4293849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monophobian/pseuds/monophobian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things change, people change, feelings change. Sometimes, small moments (and perverted friends) show the way. Connected drabbles from KakaSaku week on Tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Early Morning Visitor

**Author's Note:**

> I know I've been radio silent for a bit, but I am still alive. In the bit of time between my last update and now, KakaSaku week happened over on Tumblr. I'm a recent Naruto-convert and I could not help but join in. (For those that don't know, KakaSaku Week has seven prompts to inspire fanfiction or fanart.) I decided to hate myself and connect all the prompts into one story line. This is pretty much going to be seven drabbles, so it's going to be short and sweet. Rating right now is because of innuendo and dirty talk/thought - the jury is out on whether or not there will be smut. Depends on how the rest of this goes. Slightly AU-ish. I'm still figuring out details.
> 
> First prompt: Kakashi's Drunken Confession.

Someone was in his house.

That revelation should have spurred a larger reaction than the one he gave. No one sneaks into his home. His traps and seals are enough to make sure of it, so whoever’s standing in his living room is either really good at traps or just really good in general.

There’s not many on that list.

Still doesn’t explain why he’s still lying in bed in the same position he woke up in. He hadn’t even reached for one of the kunai stashed under his mattress. Slowly, the jounin decides he might as well figure out who’s slowly moving over to the kitchen before they continue the rest of their exploration. Carefully, using more effort than normal, thanks to the throbbing between his temples, tendrils of chakra reach out through the walls, slowly assessing the responding threads.

Why is she–

_Fuck_.

“You going to actually come out here and talk about it, or are you going to continue to hide in there?”

_Good going, Hatake._

He was still clothed, still masked, and she hadn’t started hitting things. The dull throb roared in protest when he stood up, escalating to a horrible pounding reminiscent to the kunoichi’s signature attack. 

When he managed his way out of his bedroom, he found her in the kitchen. She was moving around the space as comfortable as if it were hers, as if it were her tea she was currently preparing. She didn’t look up when he walked in, leaning against the doorframe, and he drank in the normalcy of such an action.

It wasn’t going to last long. Any second she was going to bring up–

“You’re such a dick.”

The words were expected, but the tone wasn’t. She wasn’t angry, she wasn’t frustrated, she wasn’t disappointed, she was…

Laughing. She was laughing at him.

“Maa, Sakura–”

“You don’t get to _Sakura-chan_ me with this.” Those startling green eyes finally caught his gaze, pinning him as they twinkled in mirth. “The great Sharingan no Kakashi, Master of a Thousand Jutsu, has finally shared why he hides behind that mask.”

He felt his lips twitch. He wanted to smile with her.

“After so many speculations, the ever elusive and private Copy-nin hides his face because–”

“It’s not _just_ because of that.”

She flashed him another smile as she pulled teacups from his cabinet. “Right. Honestly, I thought it was because you look like your father.”

He wasn’t expecting that. “How did you–”

“Tsunade liked keeping photos with shinobi files.”

Go figure.

They stood there in his kitchen in silence, each remembering the drunken night before. The silence continued on until they were both sitting at his table, enjoying the tea. He was grateful; it was soothing to his hangover.

“How’s your head feeling?”

“Better.” He savored a long sip but couldn’t hide the wince caused by swallowing. “Feels like Naruto got stuck in there and is trying to fight his way out.”

She left out a laugh at that, setting her tea down on the table. A few movements and she was kneeling next to him, green healing chakra seeping in, wiping away the rest of his headache.

“You were right, though,” she murmured. “That mark does add to your beauty.”

He was never drinking again.


	2. (Comfort) & Lightning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt two: Summer Rain/Thunderstorm.

"Sakura!"

Jerking up from her arms, she peered out from her shelter into the downpour over Training Ground Twenty-Seven. A mass of blobs were speeding toward her, running in a wide arc through the rain. She didn't have time to ponder why Kakashi summoned the entire pack before eight warm, furry, _wet_ dogs were suddenly on her.

"Woah!" She jumped to her feet, keeping her back to the tree in an attempt to remain above the bodies. After her initial shock passed, she knelt down to greet each one. Soaking wet or not, these dogs were absolutely adorable. "What are you guys doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Rolling her eyes, she met the gray gaze staring down at her. "I was training."

"In the rain?"

She cocked an eyebrow at his tone. "A shinobi has to be prepared to fight in all conditions."

The two stared at each other over the pack of dogs. She wasn't going to back down on this. If he had something to say, then he can damn well–

_Crack!_

As soon as the lightning was gone, she was embarrassed to realize she had jumped at the flash of light and shrieked at the roar of thunder. Refusing to meet his gaze, she looked over his dogs. Each one was looking between the two, almost knowing what was going to happen.

"Sakura."

She winced.

"Look, it's okay," she heard herself say, looking anywhere but them. "I have to learn to get over it, or at least be able to deal with it. How can I expect to take missions if I'm stuttering over a stupid little fear?"

"It's not a 'stupid little fear'." His deep voice was in her ear, his presence was surrounding her, and next thing she knew, she was sitting down on the wooden platform braced against his side with his ninken surrounding them in a wall of solid, breathing warmth. "I'm sorry I ever taught him that."

She was pleased at his grunt when she jabbed her elbow into his ribs. "I don't tease you about your beauty mark, you don't blame yourself for his actions. Deal?"

When he remained silent, she craned her neck to look at him. He was studying the shelter, steadfastly ignoring her proposition. "Yamato?"

She narrowed her eyes, temporarily allowing for the change in subject. "Yeah. He has a couple of these formed throughout the training grounds."

"Good to know."

Another splinter of lightning flashed across the sky, and while her reaction was better than the first, the dogs pressed closer to her and his arm tightened around her waist.

"I didn't realize you were listening last night," she murmured, only to scoff at his snort. "Why should I? You weren't exactly taking the conversation seriously."

There was a shift in his posture, one that told her she was wrong before his quiet words did. "I had to make you laugh."

She almost missed it. "What?"

"I had to make you laugh," he repeated, those gray eyes staring out into the downpour. "It was the only thing I could think of that wouldn't seem like I was patronizing you."

It was through years of getting to know the distinct quirks of Hatake Kakashi that made that one confession ring right through her. He was right; the conversation turned dark and sad over their drinks. She had felt the shift in his aura when the Chidori came up, but was already too far gone to have realized what it meant at the time. Sharing the full history of his mask had not only taken her mind off the previous topic, but also shown her his trust. While it was lacking in the severity her newly-formed fear had, the truth behind his mask was just as personal.

She allowed herself to relax against him, taking comfort in the heat provided by his ninken.

"Everything's going to smell like wet dog."

"Probably."

" _You're_ going to smell like wet dog."

"Most likely."

"You won't get that smell out of anything."

He hummed.

"The Hokage can't go to work smelling like wet dog."

"Are you volunteering to wash my dogs tomorrow?"

Eight pairs of ears perking up at the thought of receiving a bath from _their Sakura-chan_ had her biting her tongue. She was going to regret that.


	3. Skin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This was a fun drabble to write. I definitely enjoyed it.
> 
> Prompt three: Itsy Bitsy Polka Dot Bikini.

It was perfect.

She was able to gather five large buckets of water from Ino, using some of their storage bins that weren't currently in use. Kiba supplied the shampoo, safe for all animals and tough enough to wash away all sorts of gunk that attracts itself to fur. (Looking at the varying colors stuck in their fur, she didn't even _want_ to know what Hatake got them in to.) She even was able to get Shikamaru to convince the Nara clan access to one of their fields, enough space to hold a decent audience.

The best part was her new bathing suit. He wasn't going to know what hit him.

***

There had been an energetic buzz running through the tower all afternoon. Normally, the fast pace made it easy to focus on the never-ending paperwork suffocating his desk, but there was something different about this one. Almost like anticipation was sparkling through the floors, keeping everyone from focusing on their task.

He'd tried to figure out what was going on. Excited murmurs had been passed outside of his office, but they quickly disappeared as soon as he caught whiff of one. It was like the shinobi working around him had figured out how to keep their secrets.

And if that wasn't damned annoying, he didn't know what was.

The mid-morning break for tea produced no answers and his trip down the tower for lunch was as dry as Suna. He purposefully traveled through the mission room during each break from his office, hoping to catch some of the gossip that flows there like water. No such luck.

It didn't make any sense. Konoha was infamously _horrible_ at keeping secrets. There had to be some way of finding out what had the tower in a tiff.

"Get a load of this, Hatake!"

Glancing over the pages of his book, and then over the pile of papers sitting on his desk, he watched Genma unceremoniously throw open his office door and stroll right past the ANBU guards. A harsh grunt from one of them stopped the tokubetsu jounin for a moment.

"Oh, pardon me, _Hatake-sama_."

He allowed himself to grin behind his book.

The man stood at the desk, flicking the senbon between his teeth. From the look of it, he had stumbled on some pretty good gossip and was just looking for someone to share it with.

"You will never believe what your Little Pinky managed to pull off today."

Kakashi's attention was immediately caught at the mention of his favorite kunoichi. "She'd send you through a wall if she ever heard you call her that."

"You first for finding out you let me."

He shrugged. The man made a valid point. Turning his page, he waited for Genma to continue.

"Word around the mission room is that _someone_ was given the task of washing all eight of your ninken today."

Gray eyes stared at the page, not meeting the man's gaze. So far, nothing new.

"Well, the _wonderful_ Hokage-sama picked the right person, because Little Pinky managed to manipulate that task into a mission."

No fucking way.

"A mission that includes the rest of her past teams."

Book forgotten, Kakashi looked up at Genma, silver eyebrows raised in surprise. "Oh?"

"Yep. So Pinky's got Naruto _,_ Sasuke, Sai, and even Yamato out there in the hot sun helping her wash your dogs." Genma held up his hands to halt the words about to come out of Kakashi's mouth. "Oh, it gets better. Her little blonde friend has set up a booth outside the field, selling tickets to see the event, because not only are they washing dogs, they're washing dogs wearing swim suits."

Kakashi did the only thing he could think to do at the mental image of those shinobi only wearing swim shorts and holding soapy sponges at the mercy of Sakura; he threw his head back and laughed. "How many girls have gathered out there for that?"

"Oh, a fair amount," the man grinned. "Almost as many men."

That brought Kakashi up short. "What?"

A twinkle in the other man's eye told the story of a trap that had caught. "I didn't know they made bikinis that small."

Oh _fuck_ no.


	4. Green String

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this one's so short! I know they're all supposed to be drabbles, but this one ended up almost 200 words shorter than the others. I like to think I made up for it in content, but that's just me blowing smoke up my own ass. But yeah. Fair warning, it’s getting dirty? In other news, I love Genma.
> 
> Fourth Prompt: Tan Lines.

What he wouldn't give to be able to record this.

He had to hand it to her; this was brilliant. There was a large crowd, enjoying the perks of watching the five shinobi wash an errant pack of dogs. Their attire sure didn't hurt either.

One wouldn't normally think about tan lines left from normal armor, but he was sure thinking about it now. Tenzou's face was priceless; with as tan as most of his face was, there was stark contrast between his cheeks and the skin normally hidden by his headgear. Sasuke and Sai both had a pale enough complexion that the lines adorning different areas of their torsos weren't as noticeable, but they were still amusing. Even Naruto who was naturally golden had a paler stripe on his forehead, the normal home of his headband.

His laughter stuck in his throat when he turned to Sakura.

Objectively, it was not the smallest bikini he'd seen. And he'd seen his fair amount over the years, traveling far and wide from Konoha. Some of his personal favorites had been ones not intended for actual swimming, and comparatively, they were much smaller than this.

No matter what his brain was telling him, what logic dictated, she was wearing the _tiniest_ piece of scrap and string he had ever seen.

It looked even smaller when he noticed _her_ tan lines. Not just lines from wearing her normal shorts and skirt, but from what was probably her normal bikini. It dipped lower _everywhere_ than her tan line, showing more of cleavage than he'd ever seen from her and slipping further down the flat stomach he ached to nibble, stark hip bones outlining the path he wanted to take.

When she turned around, he groaned.

"Told you."

Genma's leer was audible in his ear at the illusion in front of them. Her _normal_ bikini showed flashes of her firm ass if the lines were anything to go by. The one she was currently wearing?

"I'm pretty certain I could have two handfuls of bare ass cheek without having to move that thing at all."

He was _Hokage_. He could _not_ kill–

"Just _imagine_ what it would be like to grind into that."

 _No_. Genma is a _friend_ and a good shinobi. He would not–

"Think she'd be the kind of girl to ride?"

 _Fuck it_.

Good thing there were always ANBU around. Two of them quickly grabbed the unconscious jounin and moved him away from the volatile Hokage. One more dirty thought about what Shiranui wanted to do to his Sakura–

 _His?_ Oh no.


	5. Second Guesses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m trash. It’s been too long. I’m so sorry.
> 
> Prompt Five: Sakura Washes the Ninken.

This was a mistake.

Not the “mission”, or including her teammates, or even letting Ino know what was happening. From the crowd, neither one of them were going to be worrying about rent in the near future. She might even be able to afford to take a vacation somewhere if she could ever get time off from the hospital. Hell, even a week at an onsen would do it for her.

Nope, the mistake was the stupid thought that wearing this bikini would be a good idea. Even Sai commented on it. She expected comments from Naruto, expected some kind of grand indifference from Sasuke, wasn’t even surprised at the slight blush gracing Yamato’s cheeks, but for _Sai_ to notice? Didn’t expect that at all.

It was too late to turn back now. The crowd had already gathered, the soap had already been poured, and Sakura’s bikini bottom had already plastered itself to every curve and crease of her butt. It didn’t matter what she did, the damn piece kept riding up until she had to just ignore it.

“Oh great,” she heard Naruto groan. “Even the _Hokage_ has come to see this spectacle.”

Sakura froze, her body flashing hot, then cold, then hot again. _What was she thinking?!_ Yeah, sure, the point of the stupid day was to tease Kakashi. The point of unearthing that damn bikini from the bottom of her unused drawer was to tease Kakashi. Now that Kakashi was actually there, witnessing her practically baring all to whoever decided to pay the fee to watch—

What if he didn’t like it?

_Stop it._ She set out with this mission and she was going to finish it, insecurities be damned. Taking in a deep breath, she looked down at her feet. Four of the eight ninken had approached her, settling around her legs and looking up at her expectantly. Glancing up, she found three of the other shinobi wrestling with Bull, who looked like he was being suspiciously stubborn.

_Ah._ The remaining three ninken were slowly sneaking their way over to her. Looks like she was going to end up washing them all anyway.

Ūhei was first, looking downright miserable underneath wet bandages. She set to it, a small smile playing at her lips as she washed around them. Just like his Boss, Ūhei was particular about his appearance. As soon as she was finished, the quiet ninken _poof_ ed away, returning within moments with a fresh, dry set.

She watched with a small smile as he trotted over to settle underneath a tree, then turned back to the pack of dogs in front of her and set to work.

“You know, the guys are here for a _reason_ ,” she half-heartedly complained to Pakkun as she washed behind his ears.

He huffed at her. “Just like there’s a reason for your attire?”

Sakura couldn’t help the blush that flew up her skin. 

“Don’t worry,” he growled as she got a particularly itchy spot above his tail. “It’s working.”

She blinked. He _was_ interested. Well. Maybe this wasn’t such a mistake after all.

***

The sun was starting its descent by the time all the ninken were washed and the crowd dispersed. Ino roped Kiba into helping the guys clean up the land and pretty soon, with a few pointed looks from the Yamanaka clan head, Kakashi was left alone with his ninken.

He turned toward the cluster of fur all resting beneath the tree and the head of pink that poked through. Maybe not _completely_ alone.

Sleepy eyes blinked open to watch him as he approached, bodies remaining still to keep from disturbing the kunoichi. She was tucked in quite comfortably between the fur, sleeping pretty soundly in the shade. He couldn’t help the rush of fondness to see how at ease she was around his pack.

“How long has she been asleep?” he asked softly.

“Not long,” Pakkun answered. “She’ll probably wake up soon.”

Nodding, he carefully lowered himself onto the ground as well, the pack adjusting to include him in the pile. He softly set the Hokage hat onto the pink crown next to him, chuckling at how it seemed to fit. Maybe one day.

A quick feel of the area told him of the ANBU hidden in the trees. They would alert him if something happened. Until then, he had some sleep to catch up on.


	6. Sensei

“-ge-sama.”

There were times he regretted his shinobi training. Had he been a civilian, he never would have been jostled from sleep.

“ _Hokage-sama_.”

She was getting more insistent. Which was another problem with not being a civilian; he knew who was standing on the other side of his desk trying to get his attention.

“Quit the acting, Kakashi-sensei. I know you’re awake.”

Time to part with the lovely bundle of paperwork that had been cradling his head. His eyes opened first, once again a slightly jarring experience for both of them to be uncovered, and he slowly sat up. It was darker than it should be in the office right now and a quick glance out the expanse of windows told him how late it really was. 

“Why are you still here?”

Well, good thing about this entire experience was that she was back to her normal clothing. He could have this conversation without ogling the expanse of tantalizing skin she had shown that afternoon.

“Sensei?”

“I think by now, you can drop the ‘sensei’.”

Sakura pursed her lips as he watched various thoughts fly across her face. She was too good a kunoichi for him to know what those thoughts _were_ , but at least he knew they were there.

“Sensei,” she began, _completely_ ignoring him, “it’s almost one in the morning. What are you still doing here?”

Was it really that late? “Maa, I _was_ sleeping before someone rudely interrupted me.”

She snorted, utterly unimpressed.

“It was such a good dream, too,” he put on, sighing softly as he leaned back in his chair. “Just me, an onsen, and the girls from _Icha Icha_.”

He glanced to see if she was going to take the bait. Judging from her unchanging expression, she wasn’t.

“Does any of this have to be done before morning?” Sakura took a step closer to the desk, her gaze falling down to the ink-scented, makeshift pillow that Kakashi might or might not have drooled a little on.

“No.” Green eyes flicked up to his. “I’m serious.” Pursed lips again and she craned her neck to get a better look. “Tomorrow’s work is all done,” he insisted, tapping at a separate pile of scrolls on the corner of the desk.

“Good,” she answered, standing back up. “Let’s go.”

“Go?”

“Yes, _go_. I’m taking you home.”

Kakashi was almost too late keeping his mouth shut, innuendo-filled reply dripping at the tip of his tongue. It wouldn’t due to direct such a statement toward Sakura; he wasn’t prepared to defend himself should she take offense _and_ he wasn’t quite sure he could’ve passed the statement off as a joke. It was a little too late for that.

Instead, he calmly clamped his teeth on his tongue and sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at her with the petulance of a child.

“Don’t make me carry you across the village,” she threatened, an eyebrow arching in challenge. “Hokage or not, you will be leaving this tower even if I have to drag you out.”

He was tempted – oh, he was _tempted_ – but she was smart. She’d probably immobilize him, _painfully_ , then heal him as soon as he was home. Sighing, he stood, shrugging off his robe and leaving it to hang over his chair. After the stretch his back demanded from sleeping hunched over, he strolled along after his ex-student and followed her out of the tower.

“Well,” he broke the silence as soon as they were outside, “I’ll see you later, Sakura.”

“Oh no you don’t.” Two hands on his back steered him forward. “You are going _home_ , crawling into your _bed_ , and going to _sleep_.” She pushed him again. “You are _not_ going to blow me off and then return back to that tower to do more work.”

He would have snorted had that not been exactly what he had planned to do.

“You’re working yourself too hard, Kakashi,” she grunted. “And if you don’t stop fighting me, I’m going to carry you.”

“I’d like to see you–”

He had braced himself against being thrown over her shoulder. Instead, he found himself in her arms, cradled to her torso like a newborn.

“ _Sakura._ ”

“You’re too damn stubborn.” She adjusted her grip on his body before heading toward his apartment. “You’re so worried about keeping your lazy reputation up that you overwork yourself to do the same job you pretend to ignore.”

“You don’t have to carry me like this,” he complained, completely ignoring her very accurate assessment of his tenure.

She stopped at an intersection. “Either you walk with me like the grown adult you are or I carry you like the child you’re acting like,” she gritted out. “Your choice.”

“I’ll walk.”

They were halfway to his home before he broke the silence again. “What were you doing in the tower so late?”

The blush that flew up her cheeks was nothing short of charming. “I couldn’t sleep,” Sakura answered quietly. “Normally, when I can’t sleep, I’ll sneak off to the top of the Hokage tower to look at the stars.”

“Why the tower?” Kakashi asked, figuring that was the safest question to start with. It would probably not be wise to ask her why she couldn’t sleep. Who knows where _that_ conversation would lead his thoughts.

She shrugged. “I just got used to being there. I was there so much under Tsunade, it felt familiar to me. ANBU never seemed to mind, either, so it became a go-to.” She fell quiet for a moment. “I never thought about changing it since she stepped down.”

The two continued in silence for the rest of the short trip, both simply enjoying the walk.

“Get some sleep, sensei,” she said as soon as they got to his door. “I’ll be over in the morning with some tea to take a look at your hand.”

“My hand?”

“You did a number on Genma’s jaw. No way you got out of that punch without hurting something yourself.”

Kakashi was glad his mask covered his blush. Sakura was the last person he wanted to know about that. “Why not look at it now?”

“Well, sensei, because you probably deserved it.”

There was no way he was continuing down _that_ conversation path. “It’s about time you stopped calling me ‘sensei’, Sakura,” he said instead. “I haven’t been one in a long time.”

It would have been a good night for her to stargaze, as the moon was full enough to showcase the glint that appeared in her eyes. “Oh, I don’t know about that,” she murmured silkily, her voice sending a rush of heat through him. “There are still a couple things you could teach me.”

_Dangerous territory_. There was no way he was misinterpreting her tone, but he sure wasn’t ready to face it. Turning, he undid the traps at his door, hoping to get alone before he did something stupid.

“Goodnight, _sensei_. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The bulge in his pants told him he was too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured the best way to get back into the ks ship (because I miss it so freaking much) was to continue this drabble sequence I started last summer. So, a few things to say:
> 
> 1\. Sorry it’s been so long!  
> 2\. I hope you like it!  
> 3\. This ended up much longer than I intended, but I don’t regret it.  
> 4\. I know this only slightly hinted at the prompt. The piece ran away from me and I didn’t feel like forcing it to go in a direction it obviously didn’t want to go in.
> 
> With that out of they way, let me know what you think!


	7. A Small Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt Seven: Shut Up and Dance

“What are you doing here?”

Pulling her focus from her glass, Sakura almost couldn’t believe he was there sliding into the booth in front of her. Looking around, she noticed the distinct lack of entourage, then looked again to see them blending in perfectly with the bar. Dressed as civilians, a few cheery and social while a few more kept their serious disposition, the Hokage’s ANBU guard really knew how to allow him to enjoy a night.

“I should be asking you the same thing,” she replied, turning back to the silver-haired man as one of the waitresses dropped off a second glass. It took nothing to fill the cup, sliding it to him before offering a toast and finishing what was left in hers. “If your answer is anything similar to mine, then we’re probably enjoying the same thing.”

An extra night away from the village, sitting in a bar where no one would recognize what her pink hair meant, quiet and isolated and the perfect moment to allow the turmoil finally settle before walking back into her normal life.

Sometimes, Sakura resented the hospital and what it had come to mean. She loved her work, loved healing and all that came with it, but that didn’t keep the walls from becoming a prison at times. Keeping her locked inside, chained to the village in ways that went against everything in her that knew what it was to be a kunoichi.

“You know, I could have sworn you gave me this mission as punishment for having the gall to carry you home.” It was a tease, but a light one. More a jab at his own embarrassment than a ploy to soften the truth. “But now, I think you might have known just how much I needed it.”

Even after all these years, Sakura was still jarred at how easily he drank through his mask.

“Tsunade asked if you had visited the rooftop recently,” he answered simply. “Said you would do that when your feet missed running through trees.”

She dipped her head as she refilled her cup, a shy blush staining the edges of her nose before taking another sip. It was true, though she was didn’t know Shishou had picked up on that.

“I miss it, too.” He smiled then, the particular crease to his eyes showing it to be a genuine one.

Silence settled, Sakura lost in her own thoughts. How different it had to have been for him, going from active shinobi to Hokage in such a short time. Even with the few years it had been since the end of the war, there was no getting used to a desk job. How well she understood that.

“Dance with me,” she said. It was a sudden thought, flying straight off her lips before she was even aware of its presence, but she didn’t take it back. Shoulders squared, she stood up and held out her hand. “Come on. Dance with me.”

A question – and probably a rejection – was on the tip of his tongue, but he must have seen the determination in her eyes. Something shifted in his gaze, too; something soft.

Another smile touched her lips and she knew she made the right decision.

“You know my guards are never going to let me hear the end of this?” It didn’t stop his arm from sliding around her waist, or his left hand grabbing her right. Her own fingers grazed the fabric on his shoulders and Sakura pressed her ear over his chest. “The Rokudaime Hokage caught slow dancing with the head medic in a small village outside of Konoha. I can hear the gossip now.”

She huffed out a breath, ignoring his sarcasm in favor of the soft rhythm they set. The guards he had with him would never utter a word.

It didn’t take long for the sounds of the bar to drift away, replaced with the slow beat of his heart.

“Thank you,” she murmured, long after his shoulders relaxed. For the mission, for the drink, for the dance, for so many unspoken things that laid between them.

He was still, almost as if he were tossing the sentiment around in his head to gather everything unsaid before she felt his mask touch her forehead in a barely-there kiss.

Warmth bloomed, almost akin to the path the seal striped down her skin when she released her chakra. Memories of the week told that maybe, just maybe, there might be more behind that small affection.

Leave it to Kakashi to offer a thousand sentiments disguised as nothing at all.

“Has this been a good break for you, too, Sensei?”

“Sakura.”

And it was really how his tone was both quiet, soft, and stern that had her looking up.

“Kakashi.” The weight of that one word settled over the two, a shroud to block out the world. “Just Kakashi.”

That _something_ was back in his eyes, tugging at the strings of her stuttering heart. It grew when she finally smiled, tentative at first as the gravity of the request fully dawned on her.

“It’s been a habit,” she swallowed around the lump in her throat, “so I’ll probably slip a few times, but okay. Kakashi.”

Funny – the intimacy of just his name felt perfect on her lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a shit ton of excuses for leaving this alone for so long, but I don’t really care about them. Looking back at this drabble sequence, I’m actually happy for the time spent. It’s allowed me to develop this a little deeper than I originally planned.
> 
> I don’t think this is the end. It doesn’t seem like it – even if that had been my original plan. Stories have a way of changing on you, don’t they?
> 
> I’m happy to finally finish out the prompts, even though I’m two years late. I think there might be one or two chapters left to tell and I’m excited to see how they form. I can’t promise them soon, but I don’t think it’ll be another year before I update.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and if you’ve stuck around, I cannot express how grateful I am. Please let me know what you think! I fear my writing style has changed and I’m curious to know what you might think of the direction this took. Any and all (constructive) feedback is welcome, invited, and greatly appreciated.


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